The Lurid low-brow Tiki-Art of Brad (tiki-shark) Parker

Hey TC, I missed posting last night. I spent most of my after hours time finishing my annual company Halloween Card.

The inside reads: "Have a LAVA-ly time this Halloween"
(I know, groan!)
Here at Tiki Shark, Inc. we send out a Halloween card every year to our friends and family and those who work with us. This is the fourth year.
So, after I worked on the card last night, I actually spent two hours mixing paint! Two hours! (What the...?) Can you believe it? 2 freaking hours! I was as shocked as you are. Well, I couldn't get what I thought were the correct colors. (Perhaps dis is me starting to loose it.) Anyways, tonight I got to apply them to the background a bit.

And here's a closer look at that moody tiki standing in the back near the hut.

More tomorrow night.
Oh, almost forgot. Heard some cool news today. Seems the very talented chef who will be serving up the food at my art show (on much of his own dime too - what a guy!) in Nov, asked if I wanted to have him carve a TIKI OUT OF ICE for the center of the table! I said Heck YEAH!

That card is an awesome print in its own right! And the new piece is coming along fine too :)

Nice close-up, it's cool to see some of your brush techniques. That little background guy would look great even just on his own. I'm really diggin' your black and white work too, you need to get those cards on the market pronto!

Brad!
Comin along great! Man! After these, you should try a 6 foot canvas! That way we could step right into this enchanted land!The cool things about your paintings is that,when broken up into sections, each one is it's own little painting! It would be great to get one of those Ultra-Cool Cards for Halloween! Then,(After I get my free one,of course...) you should batch together all the remainers from this year and others and sell 'em off! Now quit wasting time mixing paint and get Crackin!

Lost Tiki ~
Do I got your address? Send it to me if I don't - you are on the Halloween card list fer shure! An' we never have any left over...
Tiki Sharky

GROG still hate you.

Grog, if it makes u feel any better, you know that pallet of colors I spent 2 hours mixing Monday night? I dropped it. Splat!

so, worked on the magic tiki hut some more

closer

closer on that "tiki shark" on top of the trunk.

Nice!
Don't let GROG pick on you! That's what Kirby's for! GROG just jealous because you're not lazy! That orange-tinged hilights on the tikis and stuff reminds me of the Brother's Hildebrandt-those brothers who painted all that 70's fantasy stuff (Tolkien-Sword of Shanarra)and the original Star Wars poster! They had that orange-red as well as blue and violet edge lighting-very cool!Great colors in their pieces.go check 'em out!Looking sooooooooo great so far! Now Hurry! Hurry! The clock is ticking! Your show will be here in no time! Mush!

Hey Shark, what kind of paint do you use on your paintings..it's amazin' how they blend as if made of watercolors..thanx

Conch, I'm using acrylic, mostly winsor newton and luquidtex, if that's important. Liquidtex is also used by one of my favorite artists, Tim Hildebrant! You called it right Lost Tiki. But speaking of hot rim lights, there's always the Todd Schorr! Looking at his art so over powers me I think it once altered my DNA. I always enjoy Grog. Look forward to seeing everyone Friday at Crazy Al's Retrospective!

Ah you lucky buggers, you've got a new show to go to every week! The Tiki art scene sure is on overdrive there......nice update TSA, and a good call by llt on the hildebrandt bros ...your stuff definitely has the classic fantasy vibe in the mix too!

looking great man

The Halloween card is superb. Just fantastic.

Hewy, Paipo, Hiltiki, Lost Tiki, and everyone, thanks! The Halloween cards are at the printers, I'll see what they come out like on Monday. Here's tonight's progress on mystic #5...

and a closer look at the hut. Hmmm, still a few things I wanna' do to the light coming out of there...

Tomorrow night is Crazy Al's retrospective! Can't wait to be inspired!

Cool stuff Tiki Shark.
Great seeing the progress of each piece. It would make for some cool animation all pieced together.

Wow Brad! Your work is awesome!!! Just amazing. I can't get enough thanks for posting the enlarged details.

Did I miss what medium you use?

I hope some of these beauties end up as Tiki Shark beach towels, greeting cards or even a BLACKLIGHT POSTER!!!

[ Edited by: hodadhank 2006-10-13 12:03 ]

Thanks Swampfire (I love yer work!), and Hodadhank. We are researching printed towels manufacturerers in china. Ya never know...

this is some really nice... sorry, ass kickin art ya got here brah this is how i stay inspired to work ..thanks fer sharing

Hey TC,
It was cool seeing Crazy Al's retrospective last night. Really inspirational! Today, I created that coloring book page for dark Tiki's Pirate coloring book art show coming up on the 21st. Here it is...

that be a fine piece of art me matey!

Ahoy me hearty! Arrsome job on that motley lot o' scalawags.

Thank ye, Arrrr, ye be makin me head swell. Here be the latest work...

An here be a close up...

Tiki Shark~

Awesome Works! Keep em coming!

Mahalo

McTiki

Hatred increasing.

Avast!! That be a FINE illustration! It warms me heart like a fine rum...

Grog = ROFLMAO

Thanks for the comments TC. Here is the latest.

This was a lot of exploring "atmospheric perspective", but now seems like there is too much haze tween the large Tiki in front the the hut in back. This shot actually creates more contrast in the hut then there is in the painting. Maybe I should dare try to punch up the tiki hut? Naw, let's see what it looks like with the foreground finished first. At least we are finally getting close to the fun part... the BIG TIKI! Soon, my precious, soon!
Tiki Shark~

Haha, I bet you eat all your vegetables first and save your meat for last too! Mind you, you did do the tiki early on with the last one didn't you?

On 2006-10-18 01:41, Tiki Shark Art wrote:
This was a lot of exploring "atmospheric perspective", but now seems like there is too much haze tween the large Tiki in front the the hut in back.

What?! It looks incredible... Highly dramatic sky & the atmospheric depth looks A-OK!!! Great work Tiki Shark! Tama :)

Hey Brad! You got it right! Keep the background as is and wait! It's gonna turn out Fab,worry not! Do the foreground first,and you'll discover you may only need minor sharpening or the background may just add to the hazy,mysterious mood! Thanks for adding the green! When are you gonna add the Pteradon? This one is looking soooo good! You're makin' me jealous, as I haven't been able to touch the canvas since last Thursday night! Hurry up! I wanna see at least six more new ones at the show next month!

Sonuvabitch!!! Quit teasing GROG and just finish GROG's painting!

PAINT THE TIKI!!!!!!! The A frame and tiki in the back look fine, the blue haze is working, call it sunset atmospheric perspective. It's Sharkalicious!

ST

bitta purple haze is OK :)

Paint the tiki man!

by the way, do you do prints?

What medium do you use? These paintings of yours are amazing. The attention to detail is great. I'm loving it.

Hey TC,
Thanks for the encouragement, yeah I gotta get this one done before Grog explodes. Matt, this is acrylic paint which dries way too fast for someone who works as slow as I do. Yes, I have to ask around for a good place to do some prints! I'll find out this week. Here it is.. But, I didn't do too much because I was very very very carefully eating all my vegetables. But the coolest thing was I got to listen to the new Coconut wired podcast while I worked!


Here's that worrisome transition from the purple haze to the foreground. Hmmm...

Tiki Shark

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2006-10-26 09:56 ]

Cool! I've carved a few simple pebble pipes before, but seeing that one gives me an idea...
The painting is looking great - not long to go now! Have you ever painted on velvet? Some of the nuances in your style remind me of old-school velvet paintings...

Hey Brad!
The piece is getting a real nice foreground glow,almost like the skull is radiating off that green hue! You're making progress on that thing! If you get stumped,maybe you should consult your "Hawaiian Good Luck Charm"...That is pretty hilarious! How much Tobacco does that bowl hold? Would love to see Paipo's pebble pipes! If you haven't checked out his site go check it out! Visited it for the first time last night! Wowza! Bookmark!
http://rhys.co.nz/
Now get back to the easel! And, seeing that you haven't addressed the size issue...The Ghost Shark piece was 20x24.if I remember correctly....Is this one the same size? Can't wait til you hit the islands and can paint a 6 footer! That thing would be Crammed with MANA!

Okay, the Tiki is roughed in, so it's starting to make sense, no?

Hey TSA,

Really enjoying seeing this latest painting come together. Your use of light is superb – it gives a real sense of drama; that detail of the door of the hut is wonderful. Personally, I don’t think you should worry about the transition from the background to the foreground, I really like the contrast between the purple and the green, it really makes the foreground pop.

I know what you mean about acrylic paint, you can almost feel it drying on the brush before it’s even reached the canvas. If only there was a happy medium between acrylic and oil paint (pun intended).

Looking forward to seeing it finished, keep up the good work!

It totally makes sense with the green circle of light coming from the skull! It reminds me of the famous Monet haystack paintings, hmmm perhaps that haystack is actually a little grass tiki shack?

SICK painting tikishark!

ST

That looks awesome man!

Thats it, Im getting off this bloody computer and making some tiki..

Hey Shark, This is an Awesome picture and most of the Progress shots would be Dynamite pic's by themselves.
Excellent stuff.

Hey TC,
Thanks for the encouragement through the "am I doing this right" areas of painting Benzart and everyone. Jungalero, yeah we need a slow acrylic. Hewy, make dat tiki! Sneaky,... Monet?! I blush! I had a chance to see some real Monet paintings here in LA, I got so excited explaining to my friends why they were so damn amazing that the guards started closing in... as I was gesturing wildly in front of the priceless canvas...
"Security, we got a crazed artist in the Monet room, over" "Roger that. What type of artist? Over." "Not sure, but he's wearing a loud Hawaiin shirt. Over" "Good Lord! He could be a Low Brow, or even worse, a TIKI artist! You are ordered to take him down!!!"
Anyways, Here's tonight's work on the TIKI!

And here is a detail of mostly the work on his big ol' green tiki head.

See you all tomorrow at Crazy Al's walk though!
Tiki Shark~

NICE!!! You are just teasing us aren't u? Prolly been donne fer dayz but NOOOOOOO - won't show us the painted tiki, or the skull, or the lizard, kidding..

ST

Looking very green man! So am I, with envy... :)

Can I be a pain and get you to put a size reference in one of your close up pics? Not a coin, cause i got no idea how big your US coins are... maybe a finger or a can of drink or something? Sweeet :)

Hewey inches to cm's is about 1 : 2.54, so 20 by 24 inches = roughly 50.8 cm by 60.96 cm's for Tikisharks piece.

ST

Totally cool picture!

Hey TC,
I actually didn't get a chance to paint since last Sat. I'm taking up the paint brush, putting on coconut wired, and hitting the canvas... meanwhile check out a bit of Halloween art I did for a friend, the Puzzle Master.
http://www.thefoolandhismoney.com/00-cliff-johnson/newsletters/018/index.htm